Less Than Half of N.Y.C. Budget Is Spent on Classroom

By Peter Schmidt

In a move seen as nudging the New York City school system toward the chopping block, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani released a report last week that says just 49 percent of what the system spends per pupil makes it into the classroom.

Moreover, it says, most students actually receive only 29 percent of the per-pupil expenditure in the New York City public schools--largely because the system spends a quarter of its budget on programs such as special education.

In a statement last week, Mr. Giuliani called the analysis of the school budget, conducted by the accounting firm Coopers & Lybrand, "a major step toward identifying where the money allocated for city children is really going" and making the...